This post should really have contained pics of Kolya at his first book launch, shmingling with the big names in South African educational publishing (whoever they are). But things didn’t quite go according to plan. See, on Thursday evening there was a book launch in Midrand, Johannesburg for a very lovely new reading series for which I wrote several titles. On something of a whim, I decided it might be nice to head upcountry for the launch. Freelance publishing work is a solitary sort of business, and it seemed like an unusually nice opportunity to meet some of the other bodies behind this massive project. And Rob and Hayley are expecting their new arrival very soon, so it was also a chance to see them before The Big Day.

So, master of Travelling Light that I am, I hopped on a plane, Kolya on one arm and bag on the other. Flights between Cape Town and Joburg are snappy these days: just a bit over 90 minutes and we were there. Rob picked us up from the airport. In the car on the way home, he told me he’d booked with a cab company, Safecab, who would pick up me and Kolya at 5. The book launch was starting at 6.30, but we’d have rush-hour traffic to contend with. While we were in the car, we called them again to confirm the booking – cab with baby seat, for 5 o’clock; and same to return home around 8 o’clock.

Let it be known that Safecab must go down as one of the bastions of cluelessness in our fair country. The driver managed to ignore the instructions to call me, not my brother, who made the booking. The booking chick managed to ignore the triple-checked detail that the car should have a car seat. To cut a long story short, it was a really nice visit to Joburg, but we didn’t get anywhere near Midrand that evening. I’m still interested to see whether Safecab will ever return my calls of annoyance and complaint. I’m guessing not.

Nonetheless. We had a lovely time with Rob and Hayley, and are looking forward to meeting the next new Greenstein in a few weeks’ time. Kolya got to do more plane rides, charming people all the way, and managed to sustain more scrapes and bruises on Rob and Hayley’s living room furniture. He is crawling and sort of staggering around furniture these days. There’s a lot of contact between temples and coffee tables, cheeks and dining room chairs. The dishwasher is an object of particular fascination.The arnica is at the ready at all times.